Mayor Randy Kelly of St. Paul said the United States will bring the troops home
from Iraq a lot sooner if "we don't try to bring in a whole new
leadership team to run the show. We must stay the course."
(MPR file photo)

St. Paul, Minn. —
(AP) St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly broke Democratic
Party ranks on Sunday to announce his support for President Bush's
re-election.
"George Bush and I do not agree on a lot of issues," Kelly
said in a statement. "But in turbulent times, what the American
people need more than anything is continuity of government, even
with some imperfect policies."

Kelly, who said he's remaining a Democrat, said the economy is
going in the right direction. "There's no reason to believe a
change of course will produce better or quicker results," he said.

And the mayor said the United States will bring the troops home
from Iraq a lot sooner if "we don't try to bring in a whole new
leadership team to run the show. We must stay the course."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who co-chairs the Bush-Cheney campaign in
Minnesota, praised Kelly. "His bold decision is courageous and a
welcome move toward working across party lines," Pawlenty said in
a statement.

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, the Bush-Cheney campaign's other
co-chair in Minnesota, called Kelly's announcement "bipartisanship
at its finest."

"Mayor Kelly recognizes that jobs are being created and that
tax cuts have stimulated that job growth. He has done the same for
St. Paul," said Coleman, Kelly's predecessor as mayor of
Minnesota's capital city.

But the St. Paul DFL Party said Kelly "has traded the values of
St. Paul for the agenda of the Republican Party's far right."

"Rather than advocating the needs of St. Paul, Mayor Kelly's
decision to not support John Kerry's strategy for building our
cities does the voters of St. Paul a disservice," the party said.

The Kerry campaign in Minnesota downplayed the move, saying it
"isn't surprising given Randy Kelly's longstanding flirtation with
the Republican party.

"John Kerry and John Edwards enjoy overwhelming support in St.
Paul and the energy and excitement about their plans to make
America stronger at home and respected in the world has only grown
after the tremendous success of the Democratic convention,"
communications director Stacie Paxton said in a release.

Kelly, who was elected mayor in 2001, is up for re-election next
year.